Thursday, September 08, 2005

Kanye's 'Rant'

By now, most of you have heard about Kanye West going off topic at some relief telethon last week. I thought maybe you'd want to check it out yourself. I did and now I have a new respect for Kanye. I don't know if this whole Katrina thing was a race issue. But it surely is a class issue, and if one race is more portrayed in a certain class than others then, maybe it does become one. It is obvious that the more wealthy in a community in this situation, the richest people are going o get out first, and the less advantaged are going to try to hold on to the little that they have. Anyway, It's not always about race, but this is ceratinly a class issue that should (but never will be) dealt with. Anyhow, at least you can respect the man for (clearly) being nervous, but saying what he thought he had to say, and not being afraid to tell it like it is. Here's a transcript of it, but you really need to hear Kanye's voice to feel it:

Myers: The landscape of the city has changed dramatically, tragically and perhaps irreversibly. There is now over 25 feet of water where there was once city streets and thriving neighborhoods.(Myers throws to West, who looked extremely nervous in his super-preppy designer rugby shirt and white pants, which is not like the arrogant West and which, in retrospect, should have been a tip-off.)West: I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family, it says, "They're looting." You see a white family, it says, "They're looking for food." And, you know, it's been five days [waiting for federal help] because most of the people are black. And even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite because I've tried to turn away from the TV because it's too hard to watch. I've even been shopping before even giving a donation, so now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give, and just to imagine if I was down there, and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help -- with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible. I mean, the Red Cross is doing everything they can. We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way -- and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us!(West throws back to Myers, who is looking like a guy who stopped on the tarmac to tie his shoe and got hit in the back with the 8:30 to La Guardia.)Myers: And subtle, but in many ways even more profoundly devastating, is the lasting damage to the survivors' will to rebuild and remain in the area. The destruction of the spirit of the people of southern Louisiana and Mississippi may end up being the most tragic loss of all.(And, because Myers is apparently as dumb as his Alfalfa hair, he throws it back to West.)West: George Bush doesn't care about black people!(Back to Myers, now looking like the 8:30 to La Guardia turned around and caught him square between the eyes.)Myers: Please call . . .At which point someone at NBC News finally regained control of the joystick and cut over to Chris Tucker, who started right in with more scripted blah, blah, blah.

Also check out this article in the Washington Post. Now, like I said, I don't know if I agree with everything that he said, but I do agree with the sentiment, and I have to say Go Kanye, and tell it.